Facebook quotes and saying

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama has labelled the fatal shooting of Dallas police as a "vicious, calculated and vicious" attack.Obama, who has been continuously notified of the devastating fatal shootings in Dallas while in Poland, said there could be not possible explanation for the attack.The President is currently in Poland for a summit of the NATO defence alliance but is constantly being updated on the sniper shooting in Dallas, Texas.Speaking out in the aftermath of the Dallas shooting, Obama said he passed on his deepest condolences to the families of the victims.He said: "There has been a vicious, calculated and despicable attack on law enforcement."Police in Dallas were on duty doing their jobs, keeping people safe during peaceful protests."He confirmed that five police officers had been killed in the attack with one civilian also injured.Obama said: "We will learn more, undoubtedly, about their twisted motivations, but let us be clear: there is no possible justification for … [Read more...] about Barack Obama reacts with horror to Dallas cop shootings and says ‘we’re grieving with the victims’

In December 1984, former Pakistani military dictator Zia ul-Haq held a referendum on his controversial and divisive Islamization policies. The Islamist ruler won a landslide victory albeit independent observers noted widespread irregularities in the vote. The referendum extended Haq's presidential term by five years and gave him unlimited powers. Haq had enormous powers even before the referendum, but from 1985 to his death in a plane crash in 1988, the general acted like a "caliph." Pakistan's liberal sections say their country never really recovered after the 1984 referendum. There can't be accurate comparisons between Turkish politics under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Pakistan of the 1980s, but the victory for the "yes" camp in Turkey's April 16 referendum reminded many South Asians of Pakistan's disastrous experience with authoritarianism and Islamism. "RIP, Turkey. By the way Turkey, we beat you at this game by 33 years. We did the same under Zia ul-Haq in 1984," … [Read more...] about Pakistan and Turkey: A comparative study in Islamism and authoritarianism

The Social Democrats' tolerance ambassador apologized on Tuesday for comments percieved by many as racist. Nina Queer, a prominent Berlin drag queen, called for the deportation of a group of teens who assaulted a gay couple in Neukölln on Monday. "It makes me sick," Nina Queer wrote on Facebook on Monday evening, linking to an article on the assault. "Deport them immediately! Whether they are born in Germany or not! If you want to have stress, you can definitely find a great war zone." Five teenagers, who witnesses said spoke Turkish, abused two men and then attacked one of them before passers-by intervened. Read: Germany's Bundestag passes bill on same-sex marriage Read: Liberal mosque in Berlin draws criticism Nina Queer was recently appointed "Tolerance Ambassador" by Berlin's Social Democratic Party (SPD), the state branch of one of the country's ruling parties, and last year helped out on the successful election campaign of Berlin mayor Michael … [Read more...] about Nina Queer: SPD drag queen and tolerance ambassador apologizes for racist remarks

The co-leader of the parliamentary party of the opposition Greens, Kathrin Göring-Eckardt is one of the politicians who has echoed the chancellor's demand that the US-based social media company do more to prevent it from being used as a platform for hate and racism. In a black-and-white YouTube video posted on her Facebook page on Friday, Göring-Eckardt addressed some of the comments she has been subjected to on the site, describing them as "filth, which belongs in the trashcan." "See to it that such hatred, that such filth is no longer on the pages of Facebook," she said, directly addressing the company's management. The Greens politician also states that she is speaking out on behalf of the many Germans working to assist the asylum seekers arriving in the country, who don't have the platform to defend themselves publicly against such racist abuse. She then went on to read some of the comments directed personally at her, in which users described her as an "Amischlampe" … [Read more...] about German politician goes public with racist abuse on Facebook

The pull of celebrity status has often swayed voters. And this time, one of the candidates is actually a reality TV star. In a preliminary rough count, Hillary Clinton seems to be the clear favorite among musicians. Whereas Wikipedia lists nine singers and musicians who have endorsed Trump, the list for Clinton is much longer, with 36 DJs and instrumentalists, 33 rappers and 250 singer-songwriters and vocalists. Some switched allegiance to Clinton after having advocated her rival, Bernie Sanders, in the primary election campaign. His ardent supporters included Vampire Weekend, David Crosby, Simon & Garfunkel and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Many musicias haven't just expressed their political leanings with words - but also with their art. A video of Rachel Platten's "Fight Song" features 35 stars all singing in support of Clinton. They include Aisha Tyler, Alan Cumming, America Ferrera, Eva Longoria, Jane Fonda, Kristin Chenoweth, … [Read more...] about These music stars are singing the praises of Clinton and Trump

In the ON-TV Academy, where the next generation of Egyptian TV journalists are being trained, there is a glass display case with a sign on it that says "Clashes Museum." It contains three shelves of dusty and broken TV cameras and microphones that the academy's tyro reporters brought back from the many protests that have raged in Cairo since the 2011 revolution. These aren't easy times for journalists in Egypt. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) has put the country seventh on its list of most dangerous places for journalists to work, while the latest World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders, ranked Egypt 159th out of 180 countries in the world. The organization says that five journalists have been killed, and at least 80 detained since the new regime took over from toppled President Mohammed Morsi on July 3 last year. Recently, international attention has been attracted by the trial of 20 journalists, mostly from the Al Jazeera network, who were arrested in … [Read more...] about Egypt’s media landscape not black and white

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko greeted each other by shaking hands as they began talks hosted by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk on Tuesday. The meeting is also being attended by European Union officials, including the 28-member bloc's foreign policy coordinator, Catherine Ashton. Lukashenko opened the meeting by urging both leaders to "discard political ambitions and not to seek political dividend." In Putin's first reported comments at the talks, the Russian president stressed that the fighting between pro-Russia separatists and government forces in eastern Ukraine could not be resolved through an escalation in the use of force, but only through dialogue with regional leaders. Poroshenko reiterated that he was prepared to listen to the concerns of the Russian-speaking population in the east of Ukraine. "The fate of my country and Europe is being decided here in Minsk today," Poroshenko said. "The interests of … [Read more...] about Putin and Poroshenko meet in Minsk for Ukraine talks

The teenager, from Austria's Carinthia region, said her parents had uploaded around 500 images to the social network without her permission, according to Austrian media reports. "They knew no shame and no limit - and didn't care whether it was a picture of me sitting on the toilet or lying naked in my cot - every stage was photographed and then made public," the 18-year-old was quoted as saying by "The Local Austria." She said her parents started sharing the childhood snapshots with their 700 Facebook friends in 2009, when she was 11 years old. Her mom and dad allegedly ignored repeated requests to take the pictures down, and she responded by taking them to court. "I'm tired of not being taken seriously by my parents," she said. The girl's father, however, said he believes he has the right to publish the images, since he took them himself. "In the end this is our child, and for my wife and me, it's a nice family album that's been well received by our Facebook friends," her father … [Read more...] about Austrian teen sues parents over childhood photos on Facebook

What goes on in far-right filter bubbles on Facebook? To find out first-hand, two TV reporters for Germany's ZDF broadcaster created a fake account - 33-year-old "Hans Mayer," a proud German patriot with a clear penchant for right-wing topics. They encountered a world of closed groups, hatred, lies and agitation. "Mayer," the reporters quickly learned, was surrounded by many like-minded men and women in a filter bubble that had little to do with reality and where objections never stood a chance. A filter bubble results from a personalized search and a website's algorithm selecting information a user might want to see, withholding information that disagrees with his or her viewpoints. Virtual expedition These filter bubbles are a "great threat to democracy," ZDF reporter Florian Neuhann says. He and his colleague David Gebhard had an idea of what went on in far-right filter bubbles, Neuhann told DW, but were "totally taken aback by the speed at which their fake account accumulated … [Read more...] about What goes on in a far-right Facebook filter bubble?

Mario Miljak is worried about his country. Though the 35-year-old admits that he is better off "than other young people in the rest of Croatia" - he lives in the historical city of Dubrovnik on the Adriatic Sea, which breaks new tourist records every year. Everyone gets to work here, says Miljak, a technician who sets up weddings, conferences, and other events. But in his opinion, the future of the country as a whole looks bleak. "More and more young people go away because they don't see any prospects here," he says. "We're allowing the key people of the future to leave." Even though he is disenchanted by mainstream politicians, Miljak is still going to vote in the presidential election on Sunday. Three established candidates, and one rookie The youngest candidate, 24-year-old Ivan Vilibor Sincic, was once seen as a complete outsider, but has since picked up much sympathy, particularly among young Croats. In recent TV debates, he successfully presented himself as someone from outside … [Read more...] about Croatians disillusioned with politics – and the EU